Etheridge ready to date again

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. singer-composer Melissa Etheridge says she is ready to date again after splitting with longtime partner Tammy Lynn Michaels.

Etheridge, 49, at Hard Rock's Breast Cancer Awareness program launch this week, told People magazine "You gotta be fearless about these things." She added, "There is no fear when you choose love. The more you choose love, the more love is in your life. It gets easier and easier."

Etheridge sharied custody of her two youngest children with Michaels. "I have four kids," she told the magazine. "It's hard because, of course, it's easier with two (parents), but you're a mom and you do what you do."